The Birds And The Bees
by indiegal
Summary: Tilly has a little chat with Michael.
1. Chapter 1

This story is a follow up to 'Its The Middle Of The Night,' which has adult content so can be found on Archive Of Our Own. However, if that's not your thing, this story works fine on it's own as long as you know Tilly is in a relationship with Admiral Cornwell.

* * *

Tilly let herself into her room as quietly as possible, just in case Michael was still sleeping. She needn't have worried, however; her roommate was fully dressed and perched on the edge of her bed, as if waiting for her. Tilly smiled as she crossed to grab herself some clean clothes for the day's shift.

'Morning. You ok?'

'I wanted to apologise for interrupting last night,' Michael responded. 'It was thoughtless of me to not realise that you and the Admiral would want to spend some time together, especially as it was nine months for her.'

'That's ok,' Tilly grinned. 'We'd spent some time together before you got there, if you know what I mean. And afterwards, and this morning..' she trailed off, flushing. 'Sorry. That's probably a little too much information, isn't it. Never mind.' She turned away for a second, pulling her undershirt over her head and swapping it quickly for a new one.

'What is that?' Tilly looked to where Michael was pointing and realised that the bite mark Kat had given her last night had developed into a full blown hickey.

'Wow, that's bigger than I thought. Still, at least the uniform will cover it.'

'Do you need to go to sickbay?'

'What? No, it's fine.'

'How did it happen?' Tilly stared as the questions racked up.

'You've never seen a lovebite before?' Michael frowned.

'A what?' Tilly giggled nervously.

'Ookay.. well, erm, a lovebite is something that one partner in a relationship will give another, usually.. ahem.. during.. y'know, sex.'

'The Admiral bit you?' Michael looked horrified.

'Not in a bad way! It's fun, you know?'

'Ash never bit me,' Michael stated.

'Well, it's not something that always happens. Just sometimes, in certain moods, people like to bite each other.'

'Why?' Michael looked completely mystified, and Tilly was running out of answers.

'I don't know. Why don't you ask Kat?' Michael nodded.

'Ok. I will ask the Admiral.'

'No!' Tilly yelped. 'God no, that was a joke! _Please_ don't walk up to her on the bridge and ask her why she gave me a hickey!' The image was too much, and Tilly dissolved into giggles. When she calmed down, she saw that Michael was still watching her with an expression of confusion on her face. 'Look, I have to get to engineering. Maybe we should talk about this later. With alcohol.'

'Why with alcohol?'

'Well, when I've had a drink I tend to go into far too much detail about my sex life anyway, so that actually works quite well in this case. I get drunk, you learn about sex – everyone's a winner.' Michael nodded seriously, and Tilly resigned herself to the fact that this really was going to happen.

'Ok. What time do you get off shift?'

'Actually, can we do it tomorrow night? Kat's still on board tonight so I'd like to spend the evening with her.'

'And then we will have more material to discuss,' Michael agreed, straight faced as always. Tilly laughed nervously.

'Yeah. Though I'd prefer it if you didn't mention this to anyone; I don't want Kat to feel like a science project. It's not cool to kiss and tell.'

'Kiss and tell?' Tilly sighed.

'Okay, we'll cover related slang terms as well. Now I really need to get going or Stamets will kill me.'

'Tomorrow night?'

'Tomorrow night,' Tilly affirmed, adding internally, 'And there'd better be a shit-ton of alcohol involved!'


	2. Chapter 2

'No, I'm sorry, you're going to have to run that past me again. You're meeting up with Michael tomorrow night to do what?'

Katrina passed Tilly a glass of wine and sat next to her on the sofa, tucking her legs underneath her in a mirror of the younger woman's pose. Tilly sipped at her glass before answering the question.

'Get drunk and talk about my sex life?' she said sheepishly. 'I'm sorry, I wasn't going to tell you but I thought you'd rather know than not, and then if you weren't comfortable with it you could say no and give me an excuse to get myself out of this ridiculous situation.'

'Right. Dare I ask how you got yourself into this ridiculous situation in the first place?'

'Well, it's all your fault, really.' Katrina's eyebrows rose, and Tilly pulled aside her shirt to reveal the incriminating mark at her neck. 'She saw this.'

Katrina grinned wickedly, leaning forward to run her fingers over it. Tilly's breath hitched and she tilted her head to give her better access.

'That's rather impressive, if I do say so myself. What a shame it's covered by your jacket.'

Tilly snorted and pulled back. 'She didn't know what it was,' she continued her narrative. 'I think she thought I'd been in a fight, then she thought you had attacked me. Explaining the logic behind hickeys is harder than you'd think.'

Katrina barked a laugh. 'I'll bet.'

'You have no idea. But I realised, someone has to teach her all these things, and I'm the best person. She can't carry on living amongst humans not understanding.'

'Hence getting drunk tomorrow to discuss your sex life.'

Tilly winced. 'The getting drunk part was my idea. I'm not sure I can deal with it again sober.'

Katrina laughed, then turned serious. 'She's lucky to have you as a friend, Sylvia. Not many people would endure the excruciating agony that is sure to be this conversation to help someone out like that. It's really sweet of you.'

'Thanks,' Tilly smiled shyly up at her. Kat leaned over to take Tilly's glass and placed it on the table next to hers.

'Now, though,' she murmured, pushing Tilly back into the cushions and starting to trail kisses down her neck, 'I think I'd better give you two something to talk about.'

* * *

'You have another lovebite,' Michael stated as Tilly joined her at the corner table in the mess hall.

'Ssshh!' Tilly hissed, flapping her hand as several nearby crew members turned to look at them. 'Okay, first rule of tonight; keep your voice down!'

'My apologies. I didn't realise it was a secret.'

Tilly sighed and downed half of her drink straight off. 'This isn't a secret,' she admitted, gesturing to the fairly obvious mark on the side of her neck. 'But other things we'll be talking about will be. So please don't go shouting it around.' Michael nodded her agreement, and Tilly took another drink. 'By the way, I told Kat we're having a girls' night tonight and she knows what we're talking about so you don't need to worry about keeping it from her.'

'Did the Admiral bite you again?'

Tilly nodded. 'She said it was a shame the other one was hidden so she gave me a new one I wouldn't be able to hide. It's a damn good thing she's the highest ranking officer on this ship or I'd be in trouble. She's pushing it and she knows it; you should have seen the smug look she gave me when I got dressed this morning.'

Michael's face had clouded over while Tilly talked, and she now looked extremely perplexed. 'Why would she want it to be visible if she knows it's against the rules? What good does it do?'

'That's not quite the point. The idea is that everyone can see it, and knows you've had sex. It's like marking me as her property.'

'That is a very outdated view of relationships,' Michael remarked, shocked. Tilly waggled her head.

'No, but it's kind of sexy, you see? Like, I want people to know I'm hers.' Michael's expression remained skeptical. 'Ok, let's leave lovebites for a while. What else did you want to talk about?' To Tilly's horror, Michael picked up a PADD and tapped at it, before pushing it across the table towards her.

'I have written a list of things that I was hoping you could give me an opinion on.'

Tilly downed the rest of her drink in one go, before smiling widely at Michael. 'Excuse me for a moment,' she said, pushing back her chair and heading towards the food synthesiser for another drink. She took a moment to compose herself, necked a shot and returned to the table with a full glass. 'Ok, let's have a look see.' She scanned the list, her eyes bugging out at a couple of the items on there, then settled on one to start with. 'What do you want to know about kissing?'

Michael considered the question before answering. 'I suppose what I find confusing about kissing is how many ways there are to do it. How does one know which type is appropriate?'

Tilly nodded, feeling fairly confident about this one. 'I get you. Like, if I'm meeting a friend I'll kiss them on the cheek, but if I'm meeting Kat in public I'd kiss her on the lips. Then if I'm kissing her in private, I'd probably start by kissing her on the lips, then start using tongues, then maybe move around a bit and kiss her in other places too, like her neck, and.. ahem.. other places. You've just got to feel it, you know?' Michael was staring blankly at her. 'Does that help?'

'Not really,' Michael admitted.

Tilly waved a hand. 'Ok, we'll come back to that one. What's next?' She looked back at the PADD. 'Okay, hair pulling. What about it?'

This time, Michael looked vaguely uncomfortable. 'When I was with Ash, he attempted to get a grip on my hair but was unable to. What does that mean?'

'It doesn't mean anything per se. Kat has long hair, so sometimes I like to run my fingers through it and she does the same to me. It's pretty hot to grab it too sometimes.'

'Grab it?'

'Yeah, you know, like if we're playing a bit rough and I grab Kat by the hair so I can pull her head back and get to her neck, she likes that. Or sometimes when things are getting pretty intense I just grab fistfuls of it and.. mmmmn!' Tilly trailed off with a growl, staring off into the distance for a moment, until Michael's voice snapped her back.

'So, should I attempt to grow my hair for my next partner?'

Tilly shook her head vehemently. 'No! You should never do anything like that just for your partner. Sure, grow it if you want to. But never change anything about yourself to please anyone else. If someone loves you, they should love you for who you are, not who they want you to be.'

Michael absorbed this advice, and for a moment they sat in silence. Tilly sipped at her drink while checking the list again. They progressed through a few more topics while Tilly worked on getting drunk enough to start on the trickier subjects.

'Have you imbibed enough to talk about sex toys yet?' Michael asked after another pause. Tilly spluttered and almost snorted the drink she had just taken out of her nose.

'Almost,' she gasped, gulping for air. 'Let me get another drink and we'll go there when I get back.' Michael nodded her assent and Tilly rose, crossing to the synthesiser again. She knocked back a shot and was collecting her pint when she heard a voice at her shoulder.

'Having fun?'

Tilly turned with a grin, drink in hand. 'Kat! What're you doing still on board?'

'Change of plan. It's a long story. How's your girls' night going?'

Tilly cringed. 'She has a list!' she whispered, and Kat winced. 'We're going to be here all night! And now I know you're still here I don't want to be! Join us?'

Katrina shook her head, mindful of the people around them. 'I don't want to interrupt,' she declined with a smile.

'You wouldn't be interrupting. Please, I _insist_ you join us!' Tilly's smile became brittle as she tried to communicate without words in a crowd of people.

'Alright,' Katrina reluctantly agreed, inclining her head. Tilly beamed and Kat followed her back to their table. Michael looked up as they returned.

'Admiral. This is a pleasant surprise. Please join us; we were just about to discuss sex toys.'


	3. Chapter 3

Katrina felt as if she was stuck in a bizarre dream, or possibly a nightmare. Instead of having a nice quiet evening in her quarters, she was in the mess hall watching a conversation between a very earnest (if slightly confused) Burnham, and a very drunk Tilly. The latter was currently waving her hands around in an attempt to demonstrate something, and Michael was nodding. Katrina was snapped back abruptly when she heard the words 'butt plugs' coming out of her girlfriend's mouth and tried to pick up the conversation.

'..but I don't know how those work because I've never tried one.' Tilly sipped her drink and turned to Katrina. 'Anything you'd like to add, Kat?'

Katrina tried to smile, but it came out more as a grimace. 'No, I think you've covered the subject of sex toys fairly comprehensively. Well done.'

Tilly beamed and turned back to Michael. 'Cool. So..' She picked up the list and scanned it again. 'Anal sex next?'

Katrina groaned internally. Michael nodded.

'I can understand this where it is used as an alternative for traditional intercourse; between two men, for example. But why would anyone want to do it otherwise?'

'Why indeed?' Katrina muttered into her drink.

Tilly looked at her in disbelief. 'Don't tell me you've never done it!'

Katrina raised her eyebrows. 'You're into that?'

'Well obviously not all the time,' Tilly replied with a roll of her eyes. 'But if you're in the right mood it can be fun.'

'What is the right mood?' Michael asked, and both Tilly and Kat jumped, having temporarily forgotten her.

Tilly winked at her. 'Dirty.' She looked sideways at Kat. 'You've obviously never had anyone do it to you right. That's it; I'm buying a strap-on and I'm going to give you a buggering you won't forget.'

Katrina swallowed, unsure if that was incredibly arousing or unbelievably terrifying. Tilly turned back to Michael.

'Right, it's getting late so let's cover one more thing tonight and we can come back to the rest of it some other time. Pick a topic.'

Michael leaned forward. 'There is something I have heard people refer to that I believe is related to sex, but I don't know in what way. It's called BDSM.'

'Oh.' Tilly blushed and looked down, which Katrina found mildly amusing after her earlier candour. 'I erm, I don't really have much experience with that.'

'I do.'

Both Burnham and Tilly turned to look at Katrina, who had regretted the words almost as soon as they came out of her mouth. 'I mean, a little. So I can probably explain the basics.' She took a breath, attempting to sound as clinical as possible. 'The name comes from a number of acronyms, and it refers to sexual activity that uses a combination of bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, that sort of thing. Some people like to enhance the pleasure that comes from sex in other ways, sometimes involving pain, sometimes involving power games. It's a really wide field and actually pretty hard to explain.'

Michael nodded seriously. 'I appreciate you making the effort. Could you give me some examples?'

Katrina took a sip of her wine, appreciating all the more why Tilly had decided she needed to be drunk for this conversation. And, seeing as Tilly had got her into this situation, she decided to get her own back a little. She nodded and placed her glass on the table.

'Ok. So in this sort of relationship, during sex one person is dominant, referred to as the dom, and the other person is submissive, referred to as the sub. There are also people who like to do both, and they're called switch, for obvious reasons. With me?'

Michael nodded, and Katrina continued.

'A common form of discipline is spanking. If a sub has been naughty, their dom might bend them over their desk and give them a spanking. It's usually done as a punishment, for example if the sub has broken a rule.' Katrina glanced at Tilly, and saw to her satisfaction she had turned bright red and was fidgeting in her seat.

'And people enjoy this?' Michael asked in disbelief, and Katrina smirked as Tilly blushed even harder.

'Oh yes,' she replied, catching Tilly's eye before returning her attention to Michael. 'The pain can enhance the pleasure. And the dom will always make sure the sub feels good afterwards. It's very important that the dom looks after the sub, so it can be a very intimate relationship.'

'I think I see.' Michael looked thoughtful and Katrina saw an opportunity.

'It would probably help you to understand if you read about different examples too, as it's such a wide area. Shall we leave it there now I've given you the basics and you can explore the rest yourself? I think Sylvia has had enough to drink and I should get her home.'

Tilly started at the mention of her name, jerking upright from where she had been leaning with her head in her hand, staring glassy-eyed at Kat. 'Right. Home. Yeah.'

Katrina stood, holding out a hand to help Tilly up. Michael copied her, also getting to her feet.

'I'm very grateful to you both for taking the time to assist me.'

Tilly grinned, still holding Kat's hand. 'No worries, roomie.'

Katrina moved a hand to the small of Tilly's back and started to steer her towards the door. 'Goodnight, Burnham.'

'Goodnight, Admiral.'

'I can walk,' Tilly muttered as they reached the corridor, attempting to wriggle out of Katrina's grip.

'I know you can,' Katrina replied mildly, 'I just like touching you.'

Tilly stopped struggling. 'Please tell me when you said home you meant your quarters, right?'

'Of course.'

'Just checking.' There was a pause, then Tilly looked sideways at Kat. 'Do you really have lots of experience with BDSM? I mean, I know there was that time on your desk but I didn't think..'

'I experimented with a lot of things when I was younger,' Katrina said as Tilly trailed off nervously. 'I don't have lots of experience, and I certainly don't want to change the relationship I have with you.' She grinned. 'Although I did enjoy that occasion a lot.' They had reached the door to Katrina's quarters, and, after a brief pause at the door, entered. Tilly turned as the doors shut and approached Kat, putting her arms around her neck.

'I remember. I seem to recall you couldn't even wait until we got home afterwards.' Katrina leaned in eagerly and kissed her, but after a moment Tilly pulled back, pouting. 'That was a dirty trick you pulled back there, reminding me of it when we were in company.'

Katrina raised her eyebrows. 'What about you, conning me into joining you when you knew very well what Burnham wanted to talk about next! And don't even get me started on the anal conversation!'

Tilly sniggered. 'I'd say sorry, but I'm not. It was so worth it to see your face.'

'Well then, I'm not sorry I made you remember having amazing sex on my desk.'

'Touché. Can we do it again?'

Katrina laughed. 'Sometime, yes. Not right now though – you've had too much to drink.'

Tilly pouted again. 'I've not had so much to drink I'm not capable of making an informed decision about having sex with my girlfriend! You can't get me all worked up like that and then leave me, that's not fair!'

Katrina grinned. 'Nobody said anything about leaving you. I was referring to the spanking part. As to the other part..' She leaned in to kiss her again, guiding her towards the bed and starting to remove their clothes as they went. She pushed the now almost naked Tilly down onto it, before crawling on top of her. She ran a finger down her neck to her chest, then looked back up at her face.

'Now,' she purred, 'Where would you like your next lovebite?'


End file.
